


the killing moon

by gh0stface



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Bottom Steve Harrington, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, Dead by Daylight au, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Feelings Realization, First Kiss, First Time, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspired by Dead by Daylight (Video Game), Knifeplay, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Relationship, Semi-Public Sex, Smut, Temporary Character Death, Top Billy Hargrove, flayed billy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:55:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29121540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gh0stface/pseuds/gh0stface
Summary: In which Steve Harrington ends up in another world outside of his own, playing through sick trials to appease some being known as the Entity.And Billy Hargrove shows up as a pawn in the Entity's game.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 30
Kudos: 72





	1. one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve wakes up in an unfamiliar place, with some very familiar friends.

Steve wasn't sure what had gone wrong.

Maybe he had passed out or something during the Battle for Starcourt Mall, he didn't know.

All he really knew was that he had been cloaked in darkness, a complete void of pitch black and nothing but emptiness around him, for what felt like  _ years. _

Maybe he was dead?

He hoped this wasn't what being dead was like.

Steve had always thought that if death was like this, just endless dark and a peaceful silence, then he wouldn't mind it too much. Supposed it would be a lot more tranquil than burning in Hell for all eternity, or having to wait for the rest of his family in Heaven, if he ever made it up there. A lot less confusing than wandering around in Purgatory.

But now that he was actually experiencing it, it was safe to say that he had changed his mind.

It wasn't tranquil at all, the silence was suffocating, bearing down on Steve like a crushing pile of weights right on his shoulders, and he couldn't even see his own hand as he waved it in front of his own face. It was terrifying. If this was how he had to spend the rest of eternity, then Steve was going to have to figure out how to ask someone for a refund.

* * *

He just sat, with his knees drawn up to his chest and his head buried in his hands, until he eventually saw some slight rays of light coming through the spaces between his fingers. It was so dazzlingly bright at first in contrast to the darkness he'd been wallowing in for however long that he had to actually squint his eyes a little if he had any hope of seeing anything. As cliché as it was, he was more than ready to _go into the light_ , as long as it meant he got the fuck out of the damn void he'd been waiting in. 

Steve brought his hand up to shield his eyes from the burning light that was beaming down on him as he walked forward, stepping right through it until everything was dark again. But not as much as before. Now... Now he could actually see his surroundings, and there was something strangely familiar about the scene in front of him, like he'd visited this place before, but at the same time there was something terrifying about how _un_ familiar it all was.

When his eyes finally settled down from the burning sensation the light had provided, Steve had to admit that he grew even more confused than he already had been.

Right in front of him was a lit campfire, a clearing in the middle of a dark forest with a few logs set up around it. A group of people he didn't recognised sat on the logs, chatting away quietly amongst themselves before they seemed to realise Steve was standing there, and suddenly all eyes were on him.

"Steve!" A familiar voice called, and was... Was that _Nancy Wheeler_ standing in the background by a smaller campfire, with Jonathan Byers sitting on the log beside her? It definitely was, and she was dressed exactly how they left off in Starcourt before Steve blacked out. 

_Wait. Oh God._

Steve took a little peek down at himself and- Yep, there it was. He was still wearing his Scoops uniform. No fucking wonder everyone was staring at him so strangely. He didn't have time to be too embarrassed about it, though, because it was only a matter of seconds before Steve was storming over to their little campfire with a confused frown on his face, folding his arms across his chest in a way that put across he would be demanding answers _immediately_. He needed some sort of explanation, and soon, because he could already feel the panic rising in his chest, and the only person who knew how to help that wasn't even _here._

"Nancy? Jonathan? What the Hell are you guys doing here? What the Hell am  _ I  _ doing here? Where even  _ is  _ here?" Steve asked with wide eyes, glancing between the pair who were just calmly sitting down on one of the logs as though they were simply warming themselves by the campfire that was burning in front of them. He had always hated how the pair seemed to be able to keep their cool more than him, ever since that night in the Byers' living room, when Steve had first been dragged into this strange world with aliens and Russians and so,  _ so much death. _

"Calm down, Steve," Nancy sighed in that condescending tone that Steve had grown to  _ despise _ , and shuffled around uncomfortably on the log as she looked between Jonathan and Steve. Then, she stared over her shoulder at the other campfire, with the group of people Steve didn't recognise sitting around it, each of them occasionally sneaking curious glances over at the teenagers now that they seemed to have gotten over the initial shock of Steve's clothing. "We, um... We aren't in Hawkins anymore."

"What is this, the Wizard of Fucking Oz? Where the fuck  _ are we _ , then, Nancy?" 

"Steve, I told you to  _ calm the fuck down."  _ Nancy huffed irately, scrubbing her hands down her face in frustration before taking a look at Jonathan. “We got lost. Somewhere during the fight with the Mind Flayer. Everything was black for a while and then we ended up here. Did that happen for you?” Nancy inquired, to which Steve simply nodded. “Okay… We were talking to those people over there,” Nancy turned over her shoulder for a moment again before she was looking back at Steve, “and they said it was the exact same thing that happened to them. They all got lost, and then ended up here. They said we wait here to play some sort of game, and from the looks on their faces it isn’t pleasant. Apparently we’ll just _know_ when it’s our turn to play.”

Steve tried to remain calm as he took in everything that Nancy was saying to him, but it all sounded so… odd, that he was immediately filled with questions. Like, what sort of game were they supposed to play? Was someone watching over them? How long have these people been here playing fucking _games_? Would they be able to go home after? Was this someone's sick idea of a joke? And Nancy gave him that look which read that she didn’t know any more than she had already informed him, so he didn’t bother asking. He just gave a curious glance over at the people by the other fire, and plopped himself down on the log opposite Nancy and Jonathan. 

_ Guess all we have to do is sit here and wait,  _ Steve thought to himself as he sighed through his nose and hid his face in his hands. He couldn’t deny that there was a strong anxiety rising through him, but he knew he couldn’t show it. Not around these people, anyway.

He had to try and at least  _ pretend  _ he was strong, right?

Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this wasn't great and nothing much happened in it!! it was more of an intro than anything :3


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve goes through his first trial, and meets a familiar face along the way.

_ "The game's starting." _

Steve glanced up from where he had been staring in silence at the patch of dirt in front of him for what felt like a good few hours, shooting a perplexed expression in the direction of the redhead girl standing in front of him with her arms folded across her chest. "How do you know?" He asked curiously, fiddling with his fingers as he waited for an answer.

"You can't feel that magnetic pull?" The girl asked with an arched brow, giving Steve a gentle smile and patting his shoulder even more gently. "Lucky you, guess that means it isn't your turn." She shrugged, before sauntering over to a spot of dirt just in front of the campfire and staying as still as her body seemed to allow. Nancy and Jonathan both went to join her, as well as the dark haired guy with glasses that had been sitting over on one of the other logs. How come Nancy and Jonathan were going and he had to stay here...?

“Guys?” Steve called out, quickly scrambling to stand up from the log to catch their attention before they left to play this game. “Hey, wait, don’t go without-!” 

Before Steve could even finish the request for the other teenagers to wait for him, a cloud of dark mist had already wrapped itself around their bodies, and by the time it had disappeared, his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend, as well as the redhead girl and her friend, had all vanished into thin air. 

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo.” A voice came from behind Steve, and he whipped around to find some girl still sitting on one of the logs over by the larger campfire. The smaller one was slowly starting to disappear, glitching out like an old video tape that didn’t quite work anymore. Strange. “Come and have something to eat. The name’s Claudette, by the way. And you are…?”

Steve hesitated where he was standing for a moment, fidgeting with his own hands and glancing around before he decided that making a new friend while Nancy and Jonathan were gone wouldn’t be  _ too  _ bad. Right? 

“Steve,” The brunet answered, dusting down the apron of his Scoops uniform as he shuffled over to the log where the woman was sitting, plopping himself down beside her and accepting the piece of bread he was handed with a thankful hum. “How long have you guys been here? Will we get to go home soon? Like, after Nancy and Jonathan have played the game?”

Claudette’s face very visibly dropped at that, and Steve felt his stomach churning and twisting as he studied the frown that quickly took over her face. “I… I’m afraid not, kid. None of us know how long we’ve been here, not really. We don’t ever leave, as far as we know. There are others. They chose to go and live out in the woods instead,” Claudette explained, nodding over to the treeline surrounding their little clearing, “anti-social types. But us, we’ve always felt safer staying here in our little groups.” 

Steve felt his heart drop dramatically in his chest, squeezing and sinking as he listened to the raven haired woman’s words. He would _never_ get to go home? That couldn't be true! Surely there had to be some way out of the woods, maybe the others just hadn't tried hard enough! Steve decided that once everyone was asleep and no one could stop him, he would go and explore around the woods. Just to see if there really was no way out.

God, he wished he had his nail bat. 

* * *

_ "Steve!" _

Steve whipped around to glance over his shoulder when he heard Nancy's voice from the treeline behind him, his eyes widening as he stared at the girl's tear stained face.

"It's here. The demogorgon. It's here with us. I... It killed us! H-How are we  _ here _ ?" Nancy was turning to stare at the redhead girl now, marching over to her and prodding angrily at her chest. "I watched it slash your stomach open!! Your clothes aren't even ripped! What the fuck is this?!"

"Nancy, calm down," Jonathan murmured, placing a hand on Nancy's shoulder and pulling her back slightly to get her out of the redhead's reach. He didn't need her swinging on his girlfriend, if it seemed like they were all going to be stuck here together for who knows how long.

_ "Calm down?!  _ Jonathan we were just killed! How can you tell me to calm down right now!? You were just sliced open and put on some hook, and yet here you are without a scratch!" Nancy yelled, her furious voice echoing throughout their clearing. "You," She growled and whipped around to the dark haired guy, who was staring at her like he had just seen a ghost. Truthfully, Nancy was way scarier. "Tell me what the fuck is going on here."

The man stammered around his words for a good minute, looking between the two girls that he had been seated with earlier as if asking for their help, to which they both raised their hands in defence, clearly leaving this explanation up to him. He sighed when he realised he wouldn't be receiving any assistance, and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose before he started, "Well, uh... That's the game. The Entity puts us through those trials every day, letting us be killed over and over again... We don't know why, or who the Entity is. Sometimes new people, like you guys, come and... They usually bring new killers with them. That thing we just fought, you guys brought it with you. But it's not the only thing out to kill you. This is your life now. There's no way out of it, unless the Entity decides it's bored of you, but... We don't know what happens then." 

Jonathan fainted at that, just narrowly missing his head on the log behind him. Nancy ran over to one of the bushes to throw up. And Steve... Felt massively out of place with the lack of reaction he was having.

He was sure it would hit him eventually, but for now he just sat down on one of the logs while the others helped Jonathan out, staring into the burning campfire in front of where he was sitting and wondering if he would maybe wake up soon, have all of this turn out to be a dream.

But three hours later, he was still sitting there. Hadn't woken up yet. Had just sat in the same spot, staring at the fire that never seemed to grow or shrink in size. Steve wondered if the fire had ever gone out, if the others were ever left in a moment of darkness as they scrambled to find firewood and start it back up. But for as long as Steve had been in this strange place, it had remained exactly the same. Even the flickering of the flames seemed to be on a loop, like Steve was watching a video and wasn't actually sitting in front of a fire at all.

Steve frowned and stared down at his hands when he felt a tingling sensation running through his arms and straight through his body. And then, something shot through his bones, like something stronger than him was trying to tug him in the direction of where Nancy and Jonathan had been standing just a couple of hours earlier. Claudette and the other two people, who had been with Nancy and Jonathan earlier, followed behind him much more easily than Steve was moving. 

"I-Is it my turn?? Nancy, I don't wanna go. I-I don't wanna die." Steve panicked, barely able to fight off the magnetic tug that was leading him over to the spot where Nancy had been standing earlier; no matter how much he dug his heels into the dirt beneath him, his feet seemed to have a mind of his own. The anxiety from earlier was suddenly shooting through him again, making his whole body instinctively freeze up as he stared desperately over at Nancy and Jonathan. 

“It’s okay, Steve… Just… Fix the generators, okay?” Nancy hummed with a reassuring smile. One of the only things Steve hadn’t grown to hate about her; she could be comforting when she wanted to be. “Concentrate on those, and everything will be alright.”

Generators? Steve didn’t know the first thing about fixing things! He was beginning to wish he hadn’t been so spoiled growing up, because if fixing generators was what he needed to do in order to survive through these games, he highly doubted he would be able to do it. But he didn’t have time to argue. He could barely see Nancy and Jonathan anymore through the dark mist that had started to waft up in front of him, clouding his vision completely as his body shook violently.

When Steve woke up again, he was away from the campfire, in what looked like a corn field of some sort. Maybe he could try and escape now! That seemed like a good idea, Steve decided proudly as he started creeping around, staring at his surroundings. Everything was so... eerily quiet. Dark, too. Not too bad, but he had to squint his eyes a little bit to see properly. He knew he should have agreed to that eye test his mom had tried to force him to get last year. He froze up in surprised fear when he heard the chugging of an engine to his right, glancing up above his head to see a flickering light at the top of a pole.

Oh...

_ "Fix the generators, okay?" _

Trying to escape would just have to wait, Steve supposed as he tiptoed over to the generator, all too aware that he had to listen out for any other footfalls around him, considering there was a _killer_ on the loose somewhere in this place, whose only intention was to sacrifice Steve to some other being. God, that just made every little sound around him seem about 10x louder, making him jump at every rustle of leaves or grass around him. 

The sight in front of him confused him far too much; just a bunch of wires and cogs that he had no idea what to do with. But he had to try, at least. And when he lifted his hands to start connecting wires and fiddling with some of the other parts in front of him, he found that it was a lot easier than he had been expecting. In fact, within less than a minute he was almost finished, just had a few wires to connect and... _Oh shit._ That definitely wasn't good.

Steve must have done something horribly wrong at that point, because a loud bang came from the generator he was working on, sending him flying back onto his ass with an _off_ as he quickly pulled himself back up onto his feet. Suddenly, his heartbeat was deafeningly loud in his ears as he whipped around, trying to figure out where the hastily approaching footfalls crunching in the grass were coming from. Once he figured out that they were coming from his direct right, he cursed under his breath and broke into a sprint, trying to get away from that spot as quickly as possible before this killer found him and slashed him open. His breathing quickened to the point that it became painful as he vaulted through a window in the crumbled down wall directly in front of him, thinking he was pretty smooth until his foot caught right onto the edge and sent him flying forward.

_ "Fuck!" _ Steve hissed, bringing one of his oil-covered hands up to clamp over his mouth to try and keep his breathing down, listening out as the footsteps grew louder and louder with each passing second. 

As Steve crowded himself up against the wall and brought his knees up to his chest to try and hide himself, his mind began to wander and bring himself onto a train of thought about what exactly his killer might look like. He imagined them to be all mangled, half-dead themselves, or perhaps even some ghost that had come back to play in the game. 

He had to admit, the very last thing he had expected to see when he took a risk and peeked through the window he had just fallen through was a very human, admittedly _very_ attractive man with messy blonde curls and ocean blue eyes wielding a large knife in his right hand, sniffing the air like some sort of tracker dog.

Because _of course_ whoever was in charge of this game had to bring Steve's enemy into it to kill him.

_ “Billy?”  _ Steve gasped when he saw the all too familiar blonde rounding the corner, then stopping in his tracks right in front of the brunet to gape over at Steve in a way that the brunet was probably mirroring. “What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you were dead!” 

_ “Harrington?" _


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy is determined to play his part in the game and sacrifice Steve to the Entity. Even if he doesn't quite understand why.
> 
> // THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE AND DETAILED MENTIONS OF BLOOD

“Billy, man, thank God it’s you! Listen, I know you’re supposed to kill me and stuff, but maybe we can-”

Steve was cut off by a surprised yelp when a knife came flying in his direction, through the air with a  _ whoosh  _ before it landed right in the grass two inches from his thigh. 

_ Shit. _

Steve scrambled up onto his feet with the help of leaning his weight against the wall behind him, giving Billy one last wide-eyed look before the blonde was lunging forward to grab his knife, and Steve was off like a rocket. How  _ stupid _ of him, to think he could trust someone like Billy Hargrove not to kill him. The man was only his worst enemy, and there Steve was putting his life in his hands like that.

Stupid.

Steve barely looked over his own shoulder as he broke into a sprint, bursting into the field of wheat and brushing every large stalk out of his way and cringing as every single movement sent off a rustling sound that was bound to make a loud enough noise to alert Billy of his position. Another knife came hurtling through the air, landing right in front of him in a narrow miss. Steve was just glad he had managed to bite back a yell that time. Maybe he would actually be able to get away with this. 

“Harrington, get the fuck back here, now!” Billy growled from much closer behind him than Steve had anticipated, and he had to bite back a string of curses as he thought  _ fuck it _ and made a beeline back out of the field, since at least now he would be able to glance over his shoulder and tell how close Billy was to him. Although it did provide him with the disadvantage that Billy would be able to see him, too, Steve decided that it was worth it. 

Steve took advantage of the stack of crates up ahead, slowing down a little to allow himself to crouch behind them and just  _ pray  _ that Billy wouldn’t find him there. He tried to calm his breathing down a bit, knowing it wouldn’t exactly be ideal if Billy caught him just because he was panting for air after running on what felt like a twisted ankle. Steve held onto the edge of one of the crates, just peeking above it and watching with bated breath as he listened to the sound of frustrated rustling from within the wheat field. 

A loud growl came from wherever Billy was searching, followed by some wheat being ripped out of the blonde’s way as he emerged from within the maze. Steve lowered himself just slightly, holding himself up enough that he would be able to see the look on Billy’s face when he was back out in the open. And now… Now he looked different. Before, he had just appeared to be the Billy Hargrove Steve knew far too well; a handsome, annoying shithead, but exceptionally normal. Now he looked the same way he had when he died. Crazed, covered in black branches of veins visible even through the white tank top that was almost see-through with how much sweat was soaking it.

Now he looked terrifying again, and Steve was reminded that this wasn’t just an ordinary boy anymore. Billy was fucked up forever, or at least for however long he remained trapped in this game.

Steve found himself feeling sorry for the guy. He hadn’t asked for any of this, just like none of the others had. 

But, on the bright side, Billy was now stalking off in the opposite direction in search of Steve, and Harrington found himself relaxing only slightly. He still had other generators to fix, and there was still the possibility that Billy would track him down somehow. But he felt more determined this time, knowing that it was indeed possible to outrun the blonde. He puffed out a sigh of relief and waited until Billy was completely out of sight before he slowly stood up, thinking he had gotten away with it and was totally in the clear. For now, at least.

But of course, it wouldn’t be that easy.

As soon as he stood up straight, a sudden sound from right beside him almost made him jump right out of his skin. A huge, jet black crow that he hadn’t even realised was sitting on top of the crates, started making any sound imaginable at what must have been the top level it could get its caws to reach.  _ Fuck. _ Steve risked a glance over at where Billy had just walked through an open door, cringing as he watched the blonde whip back around, glancing around for the source of the noise, and bolting forward when his wide, bloodshot eyes landed on Steve. 

And this time, Steve couldn’t run. His body was frozen in place as he watched Billy Hargrove storm towards him with a deadly look in his eyes, the knife he had recovered from the wheat field raised in the most terrifying display Steve had ever seen- and he had fought monsters from another dimension and evil Russians, for fuck’s sake!

“Billy,  _ stop- _ ” Steve whispered, stumbling backwards to try and get away from the other boy and holding his hands up in front of him as if  _ that  _ would stop the incredibly sharp looking knife from plummeting right through his chest and killing him on the spot. But he remembered from Starcourt Mall, right before Billy died Max and Eleven tried to reason with him. Maybe Steve could do the same thing now? “Billy… Hargrove…” Steve murmured, taking slow steps back despite the speed Billy was coming towards him at, “You need to… Snap out of this… So we can get you home… To your sister… Remember your sister…? Max…? I’m sure she misses you a bunch, but we gotta- _FUCK_ -” 

Billy just seemed to grow even more enraged at the mention of the redhead girl, lunging forward and slashing his knife at Steve’s wrist, sending blood trickling down his forearm as he cradled it close to his body and tried to back away a little faster. Steve watched with wide honey brown eyes as the blonde wiped the bloodied knife on his blue jeans, not seeming to mind that he had stained them rather badly. Steve barely had time to react before Billy was moving forward again, bringing his knife forward to land right in Steve’s shoulder with the most searing pain the brunet had ever experienced. This sent a strangled scream echoing through their surroundings, scaring off any other birds that were lying in wait to expose his location to the killer. 

“Billy,  _ stop _ !” Steve tried again, turning on his heel to start running again, this time with a hand clamped firmly over his shoulder to try and stop the bleeding even a little. He would need to ask for a new Scoops uniform when he got back to his dimension; this one was getting ruined. His own heartbeat was thundering in his ears now, making it increasingly difficult to listen out for Billy’s footfalls behind him. He hated that tears were starting to sting at his eyes, but Steve supposed it was a natural reaction to the pain and fear that was numbing his whole body, making his legs tremble as he tried desperately not to fall over his own feet with every step. 

And just when he looked over his shoulder again, Billy jumped forward and planted the knife right through his lower back, making Steve gasp out and fall face first onto the ground. His surroundings started to blur as he coughed up a load of dark blood, the liquid trickling out past his lips and down his chin as he watched Billy come around to stand right in front of him, crouching down and yanking the knife out of Steve’s back, causing him to give a weak, pained groan. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his eyes to focus on the boy in front of him, who was staring down at him in shock as the black veins slowly started to disappear. Steve could only shake and whimper in pain as he watched him seemingly return to normal, hoping that if Billy was in his right mind again, maybe they could find a way to get out of this together.

That hope was crushed very quickly. 

A rustling sound somewhere behind them sent Billy’s head snapping in that direction, the veins quickly returning tenfold as he growled and turned back to Steve, wasting no time before he picked Harrington up and flung him over his shoulder, holding him there with one strong arm.

Despite his energy slowly draining out of him, Steve tried to fight it, wriggling around on Billy’s shoulder as much as possible with his new injuries, sobbing softly as he carried him off to what looked like a meat hook. He had seen a few of them spread out across the area he'd managed to explore before Billy found him, and had wondered what they were for.

And then it struck Steve that  _ this  _ was how his life was about to end.

“No! Billy, please, please don’t! Billy! You don't have to do this!” Steve tried to protest weakly, but the blonde paid him no mind and lifted him up like he was nothing before dropping him onto the hook, the point of which burst through his already injured shoulder and earned another shrieking scream from Steve, who almost choked on his own blood just trying to get the noise out. Rather than go and try to find someone else, Billy just remained standing in front of him, staring at Steve as if he was fascinated by him. He took his chin in a gentle grip that contrasted entirely with this situation, turning his head this way and that like he was admiring the dying boy. 

“Pretty boy.” Billy murmured to himself, so softly that the ringing in Steve’s ears almost drowned him out entirely. And that one word sent Steve’s stomach churning in the most unpleasant way possible.

Right before he passed out, Steve managed to spit some of his own blood in Billy’s face, watching as the blonde flinched slightly before Harrington sneered, “Fuck you, Billy Hargrove…” 

And then he was gone.

Steve woke up by the campfire minutes later, his injuries completely gone and any rips in his clothes fixed up like they hadn’t even been there in the first place. He jolted upright with a soft gasp, resisting the urge to swat Nancy away when she came over to crouch down beside him with an energy bar in her hands. “Steve? What happened in there?” Nancy asked with her tone laced with concern, those large eyes studying Steve carefully as she waited for him to calm down a little.

“Billy…” Steve gasped, bringing his hand up to rest over the ghost of a wound on his shoulder. “Billy fucking Hargrove just _killed me_.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! just a quick note to say i made a tumblr @ghostfacewrites if anyone wants to make any requests ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ


	4. four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve slowly starts getting the hang of the game he's forced to play on a daily basis.
> 
> And devises an escape plan with his killer.

Steve went through a few more trials after that, each one with different killers being sent to hunt him down and sacrifice him. Some from cheesy horror movies he’d seen with his friends, some who were genuinely terrifying and kept Steve awake once he got back to the campfire, but no sign of Billy.

That is, until about a week after the first trial. 

Steve was slowly getting better at this game, figuring out how to fix the generators more efficiently, picking up items that would help him along the way and even figuring out how to sabotage the hooks, because he was sick of getting terrible flashbacks to his first trial every time he looked at one. The teenagers from Hawkins had started to gradually become closer to the people that had already been here before them, at least enough to figure out a gesture system with them. It made the trials easier, that was for sure. 

So when Steve saw Claudette crouching and standing back up out of the corner of his eye to grab his attention while he was working on the last generator, he returned the gesture with a nod in her direction and watched as she pointed over to their left. The killer must have been over there. Steve gave a thumbs up and the pair went their separate ways, Steve silently pulling open the doors of one of the red lockers beside him and slipping inside, holding his breath as his heartbeat slowly started to pick up in volume and pace. 

Steve had learned pretty quickly that this was the Entity’s way of telling him that a killer was nearby. 

The brunet had still never managed to escape from a trial alive, but this was the closest he’d ever gotten and honestly, he was pretty proud of himself. Nancy and Dwight had already been killed, so it was up to Claudette and Steve to finish the last generator and get the gate open. Claudette was definitely Steve’s favourite out of the group; she was like a mother figure to him and was always up for a chat by the campfire when the others were in a trial. And when it was their turn, she was always the first to come to Steve’s aid with her med kit. 

Steve’s train of thought was rather rudely interrupted by the sound of heavy work boots thumping through the room he was hiding in, and he decided to take a little peek through one of the slats on the locker door to see who exactly he was dealing with. 

_ Fuck. _

Steve had sort of been hoping that he wouldn’t have to see Billy again for a while, that maybe it was just a one-off thing and he would never have to have Billy hunt him down and kill him again. But there he was, looking around in all the other lockers in the room, ripping each door open and letting out a frustrated grunt when he found them all empty. Then there was just one left; the one that Steve was hiding in, and the brunet sucked in a deep breath before stepping back slowly until his shoulder blades brushed against the back of the locker. 

Billy looked like he was about to just walk out of the room and into the next, having given up on searching through the lockers, until a creak from the door of the one Steve was hiding in set him staring right in his direction. Nothing ever went right in this place. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, reminding Steve of those stupid horror films he’d enjoyed so much when he was back in Hawkins.

It was mere seconds before Billy was storming over and ripping the red door open, making Steve flinch with the force of it. He’d almost ripped the damn door off of it’s hinges. That shouldn’t have made Steve shiver in a way that wasn’t quite out of fear. Steve knew the guy was strong, but-

This was definitely not the time to be thinking about that.

Steve had to focus on getting out of this situation. He’d done it plenty of times before with other killers. And the killer wasn't moving a muscle, was just staring over at Steve with wide blue eyes as though he hadn't been expecting to find _him_ when he opened the locker. That was another advantage. Pretending Billy was just one of the other killers to make it easier, Steve ducked down under a muscular arm when Billy reached out to try and grab him, breaking into a run as soon as he wasn’t cornered by the other anymore. He never knew where to run when he was indoors, always finding it easier to get away when they were playing through an outside area, but he was sure as hell going to try.

He could hear the rhythmic thumping of Billy’s boots following directly behind him, which spurred him on to run as fast as his legs would take him in that moment. Both of their panting breaths filled the corridors of the elementary school, each huffing inhale echoing against the walls. That threw Steve off a little, because it meant he couldn’t exactly pinpoint where the sound was coming from. 

So he risked a glance over his shoulder to see where Billy was, and just like in one of those classic horror movies, suddenly tripped over his own feet and went flying to the floor with a groan. Billy was on him in a second, straddling Steve’s hips and trying to hold him down with one hand while the other raised his knife up, the boy seemingly taking a moment to try and figure out where he should stab the brunet first. Lovely. 

The moment of hesitation gave Steve a chance, though, and he smacked the knife out of Billy’s hand and onto the floor beside him, using the distraction to wriggle out from underneath the blonde and grab the knife on his way back onto his feet. For a second, when Billy stood upright and stared at Steve helplessly, he wondered if he should kill him. Just to get him back for last time. Maybe cut him a little. 

But that was the difference between Billy and Steve. Steve couldn’t even bring himself to harm another human, not one that he went to school with and who didn’t  _ ask  _ for his fate, just like Steve didn’t ask for his. That just didn’t sit right with Steve.

So…. He used the next best idea.

He threw the knife away, so neither of them could use it.

Steve watched the panic flicker across Billy’s face as his only weapon was taken right out of his reach and flung as far away as Steve could throw it, the emotion strong in those crystal blue eyes. Both of the boys just stared at each other in silence for a good few moments, neither of them daring to make the first move. It was hard to figure out what the first move even  _ was _ ; should Steve run away or should he try to reason with Billy? It hadn’t worked so well last time, but this time he had no weapon. He had no way of hurting Steve now.

Or so he thought.

The panic was growing fast in Billy’s expression, the blonde glancing around frantically as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do now. He raised his hands to tug at his hair in frustration, the black branches of veins growing darker against his skin as he lunged forward, wrapping his hand around Steve’s neck and holding him up off the ground just a little. His toes were still touching the floor. And the most acceptable option for what to do next, in Billy’s mind, was apparently to smash his head forward hard enough that it knocked Steve out near instantly.

_ Great. _

* * *

Steve gave a soft groan when he finally blinked awake again, having been prepared to wake up back at the campfire and be able to get some food and rest. But he was still in the trial; he could tell by the stifling heat that always followed him around in this place, and from the fact that he was still indoors, sitting right beneath one of the hooks in what was undoubtedly the basement. Even more unsettling than that was the way Billy was staring at him when Steve’s gaze finally landed on him. His eyes were slightly wide, like he was thinking about something that was scaring him. If Steve had enough energy, he’d give him something to be scared of. 

“Where are we?” Was the first thing that Billy asked when he realised Steve had woken up. The black veins were gone from his tanned skin, his eyes weren’t bloodshot and murderous anymore, and he genuinely looked like a frightened teenager. Steve felt for him, but at the same time he was still terrified. Somehow, that still didn’t stop his burning need to be a little shit. 

Steve took a moment to take a sweeping glance around their surroundings, humming softly to himself as though he was in deep thought before he turned his attention back to Billy and gave a casual shrug as he replied, “Looks to me like we’re in a basement.” 

Billy didn’t find the humour in that, it seemed.

But, surprisingly enough, he also didn’t quite have the reaction Steve had been expecting. Honestly, he had thought the blonde would go all Hulk-mode on him again, but he just gave a deflated sigh and sunk down against the wall opposite Steve, drawing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself like a scared child. Steve knew he shouldn’t have felt guilty watching the display, considering this boy had literally killed him last time they saw each other, but he guessed his heart was just too big for his own good.

“We’re in Midwich Elementary School, it looks like,” Steve muttered, standing up and moving over to sit beside Billy instead. He’d played through this map a few times, so he was getting familiar with the layout of it, slowly but surely. It was definitely one of the ones he knew the most, that was for sure. “But that’s not what you mean, huh? You wanna know where we actually are, and honestly, I can’t answer that. I’m just as clueless as you, big guy.” 

Billy pondered Steve’s answer for a moment, fiddling with the material of his jeans while he thought it over in silence. A minute later, he spoke up again. “Why do I have to kill people? This… Thing told me that I have to do it, or I’ll be wiped out of existence. But it never said why… Do you know?”

Steve shook his head in response to that, sighing softly as he looked the blonde over. “No. We don’t know why you’re a killer here, just like we don’t know why we’re survivors. None of us know what we did to end up here, Billy. All we know is that we’re stuck. We don’t know how to get out. Or if we ever will… I’m sorry.” 

"Why are you apologising? It isn't your fault, Harrington." Billy pointed out, bringing his hands up to scrub up and down his face before he relaxed against the wall. "I don't wanna have to kill you again. I don't wanna kill _anyone_ , I don't like it. But I don't know what'll happen to me if I don't... I'm scared." Billy admitted in a whisper, pointedly ignoring looking in Steve's direction as if that would cancel out his vulnerable admission.   
  


"You could just bring me to the escape hatch," Steve shrugged, deciding it was better for both of their sakes if he didn't point out that Billy had so openly admitted his fear. He guessed that would get him another headbutt. And the first had already left his head throbbing in pain. 

Billy's dark brows furrowed together into a frown as he glanced up at Steve, nibbling on his lower lip for a moment before he asked, "Is that allowed? I won't get into trouble for that, will I?"

"I've seen other killers do it," Steve shrugged, noticing the way that Billy winced when he called him a killer. And... Yeah, he could see how that might upset him, but unfortunately it was just the only word he could use to describe him at the moment. He had ended Steve's life less than a week ago, after all, even if it had been temporary. And judging by the screams he'd heard all throughout the match, his friends had all been slaughtered this time, too. So what else was he supposed to call him? "You just have to make it look like it was an accident. Pick me up again and take me in the direction of the hatch like you're gonna hook me, and I'll wriggle out of your arm when we reach it. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Billy nodded with the first hint of a proper smile on his face that Steve had seen in a long time. It was refreshing, really. He looked handsome when he smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like a plan." With hope brewing in those ocean blue eyes, Billy hopped up onto his feet, holding a hand out for Steve to grab onto and stand up beside him. Then, Billy gave Steve's back a slap and winked at him, stepping back to let the brunet run up the stairs.

Billy followed close behind, trying to act like he was giving chase, before quickly looping an arm around Steve's waist and grabbing him up onto his shoulder, making Steve gasp softly at the sheer strength of the other boy. Again, not the time. But it was certainly... Pleasant.

Both boys followed the plan through, with Billy following the sound of angelic music over to the escape hatch, and Steve giving the best attempt at wiggling around in his hold, but holding back just enough that Billy wouldn't accidentally drop him on his head. It was strange, actually working through this together. Steve was momentarily reminded of the last time, of the fascination on Billy's face as the boy bled to death in front of him, of being called a pretty boy right before he took his last breath. Contrasting that to the way they were acting around each other now... It was strange. But not unwelcome.

It only took a couple of minutes of being carried around the borders of the map before Steve realised Billy had come to a stop right by the hatch, and he hopped down from his shoulder, hesitating as he stood by the open trapdoor. 

"See you next time, sailor," Billy chuckled and nodded down to Steve's outfit with a little two fingered salute, making the brunet blush as he shoved Billy playfully. A bad move, judging by the way the black veins appeared for a second before fading again. 

"Sorry," Steve mumbled bashfully, giving Billy a thankful nod before he got a hold of the trapdoor and lowered himself down into the hatch, being abruptly carried off back to the campfire. And it was safe to say he wouldn't be telling his teammates the events of that trial. _A lucky escape_ , he told them all when they asked, laughing off their questions until they stopped asking them. He just hoped he hadn't gotten Billy into trouble...


	5. five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy reveals his current troubles to Steve, and they make a last minute plan to help him out.

Steve went through a few trials with Billy after that.

Sometimes the boy would kill him, each time watching with attentive wide eyes as he struggled on the hook. Other times he would stand back and let him escape, just… Staring at him from a distance. Silent, like a predator watching its prey from a distance. Steve didn’t like the way that always sent a strange, but not entirely unpleasant shiver through him. They hadn’t spoken since the time Billy helped him escape. Just played the game like they were supposed to.

It was insufferable being around Nancy and Jonathan. 

This whole ordeal had seemed to send them closer together, and every second outside of trials- and sometimes in trials, if they were both summoned- was spent as close together as possible, cuddling and whispering amongst themselves. Steve couldn’t even look in their direction. He knew he shouldn’t be upset about their relationship anymore, and he tried to be happy for them, but he was constantly met with the reminder that Nancy had picked Jonathan over him, and he ended up in a bad mood again. He missed his friends, especially the kids. But he was glad they weren't in here with him.

Sometimes he prayed to the Entity that he would be summoned for another trial, just to get away from Nancy and Jonathan for a bit. 

This was one of those instances, when the brunet had been sitting on a log by himself with his face in his hands, trying to block out the sounds of the pair giggling somewhere around him. Silently begging for the Entity to bring him into a trial just for a distraction. And his prayers were answered pretty quickly this time, to his relief. It was getting to the point where Steve would actually give a pleased little sigh when he felt that tug in his legs urging him to go and stand in his spot, because at least it meant that he would be far away from the couple for a while.

Meg, Dwight and Jake were all with him this time. Steve hadn’t really had the chance to speak to Jake that much, because the other boy seemed to be much happier living on his own within the woods than sitting at the campfire with the rest of them, which Steve thought was fair enough. He was probably sick of being around the same people all the time. It must have been lonely sometimes, though. Still, he seemed nice enough. Steve was almost tempted to strike up a little chat with him while they were waiting to be sent into their game, but the group knew better than to speak to each other while the Entity was setting up their trial for them, picking their killer and where they would be sent.

So they just stood in silence and waited, like always.

* * *

Steve came across Billy rather quickly this time; usually the other boy would save him for last for some reason, stalking him across the map until the last minute. Like a cat playing with a mouse, letting the poor thing wonder if it was going to get eaten or if it's hunter would show it some mercy. But Billy actually approached him this time, keeping his distance a little in a show of communicating to Steve that he didn’t mean him any harm. Still, Steve couldn’t let himself trust that too much. He’d been fooled by less before. 

“You... You gonna kill me?” Steve asked and stepped away from the generator he'd been working on. He liked to give Billy his full attention when he actually came near him, to make him feel heard. He knew from conversing with Max when they were back in Hawkins that it was a gesture the blonde wasn't used to, and Steve though that everyone deserved to feel listened to. Even people that ended up trapped in a game being forced to kill Steve's friends.

Billy shook his head in response to the question, holding his knife up for Steve to see and frowning at the instinctive flinch from the brunet at the action, before tossing it as far over his shoulder as he could throw it. That comforted Steve, in a strange way, and he took a step closer to the blonde.

“No. I just wanna talk to you about something.” Billy shrugged, leaning himself against the crumbling wall behind him and crossing his arms over his chest. Steve winced when he heard a scream in the distance. He knew he shouldn’t be talking to Billy when his teammates were suffering because of him, but there was something very clear in those blue eyes that told Steve something was bothering the blonde. He was too empathetic for his own good, sometimes. 

Steve sighed softly through his nose and moved to stand beside Billy, leaning himself against the wall, too, mostly just to hide himself out of view if one of his surviving teammates came running by. Because if someone found him talking to Billy, that would be... Not the best situation to land in. “Alright. What’s up?” Steve asked curiously, keeping his gaze trained on the dying grass under his feet to keep his own heart from twisting at the way Billy’s eyes were watering very slightly. A little reminder to Steve that this boy was, in fact, human. Just like him.

“It’s stupid,” Billy muttered, bringing one of his hands up to dig the heel of his palm against his eye and wipe some of his brewing tears away. “None of the others talk to me. They can tell I feel guilty about killing once the trials end, and said I’m not like them. That the Entity should put me back in our world because I’m useless. And I wanna go back home _so badly_ , Steve. Hell, I’d even go back and live with my father over this, I just don’t wanna hurt anyone anymore!” 

Steve frowned sympathetically at Billy’s words, hesitating for a moment before bringing one of his hands up to squeeze at his broad shoulder and trying not to marvel at the way his muscles bunched under his palm. Honestly, part of him was worried that this was all a trap, and Billy was making this all up to catch Steve off guard with another hidden weapon, but the way Billy’s voice cracked when he spoke, like he was trying to hold back from full on sobbing, sort of pointed him in the direction that he was in fact telling the truth.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Billy," Steve started off softly, wishing he could offer him some comfort by saying that he was in the same situation but... Well, Steve was just lucky that he had Claudette. Because no one else at the campfire really bothered to talk to him. Maybe that was why he enjoyed talking to Billy so much, when the other actually approached him. However, that wasn't to say that Steve had _never_ been in a situation like that before... "You know, after Nancy and I broke up, I didn't have any friends anymore either. A certain blonde had swooped in and taken them right out from under my feet," Steve snickered and elbowed Billy teasingly in the ribs. That seemed to bring a smile to his face, even if it was a small one. "But honestly, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Not only did I learn to enjoy my own company, but I became a genuinely better person. Being alone isn't always a bad thing, you know. And... And you can always talk to me, when we end up in trials together, right?" 

"Right," Billy nodded, giving Steve an appreciative nudge to the side. A frown furrowed his brows above darkening blue eyes and the killer asked quietly, "You'd really talk to me? Even after I've killed your friends? Killed _you_?" And yeah, he had a point. Steve shouldn't even be talking to him _right now_ , but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to make Billy feel like a person. Didn't want to scream and run away from him. He knew what to look out for by now, how to know when Billy was safe. His eyes weren't bloodshot, his face didn't have a blank expression and there were no black branches painted across his tanned skin, so Steve trusted that he was safe to be around right now. 

"Yeah, Billy, I would." Steve nodded, giving Billy's shoulder another squeeze before he dropped his hand. "You're still a person. You deserve to be listened to."

Steve wasn't expecting Billy's reaction to that, so he had no idea what to do when the blonde burst into tears, tanned hands scrambling to cover his eyes and wipe them away. Steve just watched on with wide honey brown eyes, wracking his brain for something to say. _Anything_. But nothing came, so Steve tried to imagine what he would do if one of the kids suddenly broke down in sobs right in front of him. His motherly instincts led him to wrap his arms around Billy's torso, giving him a gentle squeeze and murmuring, "Hey, it's alright. Why are you crying?" 

"Nobody's ever said anything like that to me before," Billy replied in a small voice, giving a little sniffle as he rubbed at his eyes. "Sorry.." 

"It's okay..." Steve whispered, rubbing his hand up and down Billy's back as he let the blonde cry it out. It infuriated him, to know that no one had spoken to him like that before, not even when they were back in Hawkins. Steve knew it wasn't his place to be angry over it, he hardly knew the boy anyway, not really. But his chest still stung with sympathy and some form of guilt for never bothering to just talk to him, always being in some rivalry with him. He wanted to fix that now, if Billy would let him. "Hey, Billy... What if you come back to the campfire with me? And go from here as one of us? It's clear you don't belong where you are, and I'm sure if you walked out the exit with me it would be fine..." 

Billy paused his actions of wiping his own tears away to look over at Steve with his eyes widened incredulously. He looked kind of comical, honestly. "You really think it would be that easy? What... What if the Entity hurts me when we try to leave? Or hurts you for suggesting it?" 

"It won't hurt us. It needs players for the trials, doesn't it? We could play it off like it's a mistake if it doesn't work. We have to try, we need to do something! You can't just be this miserable the whole time you're here." Steve argued back, having to keep reminding himself to keep his voice hushed. 

"Okay... Okay, I'll think about it. But I'm just worried that if we go against it, it'll kill-"

Both boys jumped slightly at the rustling of grass from a few feet away, and Steve cursed under his breath, knowing that one of his surviving teammates must be nearby. He took a few steps away from Billy, going back to fixing the generator and acting like nothing had happened, while Billy moved back to hide behind the wall, trying to pretend that he was simply watching Steve like he usually did. When Dwight rounded the corner, heaving in pants of breath, and spotted Billy, he quickly moved over to Steve and shook his shoulders to get his attention.

“Steve! Run!” Dwight warned, almost choking on his own breath as he tried to calm down. "Come on, The Flayed is _right there!_ Don't you people ever use your damn eyes?"

_ Shit. _

Steve sighed irately through his nose and started following after Dwight, spinning on his heel momentarily to mouth an apology at Billy, who simply nodded at him and stalked off in the other direction, probably going to pick up his knife. When Steve glanced back at him over his shoulder, he saw the all too familiar black veins starting to track their way down his muscular arms, and Steve knew he had to be careful from that point. Couldn’t just stand around having deep conversations with the killer now. He was a different person at the moment. 

* * *

Steve and Dwight went around fixing the last couple of generators, since they were the last two survivors in the trial. Billy could be heard moving about, just following them, but never getting too close. Dwight seemed sketched out by it, so luckily he didn't seem suspicious about Steve 'not realising' that Billy was right behind him while he fixed the generator, which he was thankful for. That would have been difficult to explain.

Once they fixed the last generator, both boys went their separate ways, a tactic they'd come up with so that if the killer happened to be camped at one entrance, at least one person would make it out alive, and the other could loop back if they needed to. It had worked out well so far, and at least Steve knew that Dwight would survive this trial by going to the other gate. Because he could feel Billy nearby, heard his heavy breathing and the crunching of grass under his feet. 

Billy was just standing there  _ watching  _ as Steve opened up the exit gate, even when the loud alarm blared through the speaker on the large silver box, which Steve had always hated because it told the killer exactly where he was at that moment in time, always resulting in him getting killed. Not this time, apparently. Because Billy was just staring at him, watching wistfully like he was dreading the game ending. Probably because it meant he would be sent back to the other killers, who had apparently been less than welcoming to him. And that was when Steve remembered back to their earlier conversation, and the idea he had suggested.

They had to at least try. For Billy's sake.

“Come with me,” Steve whispered, thinking to himself that maybe if Billy took the same exit as the survivors, he would be sent to the campfire with the others rather than being transported back into the woods with the rest of the killers. It was obvious that Billy was arguably even more miserable than Steve was with this arrangement, and perhaps this would be the way to cheer him up just a little. He didn’t deserve to be with the killers. Sure, he hadn’t exactly been the greatest person in the world when they were back in Hawkins, but he didn’t deserve to be landed here. Not like this. “Please.” 

“I can’t…” Billy murmured, taking a step back from the brunet and staring up at the sky for a second like he was worried the Entity would come down and impale him on the spot just for even  _ thinking  _ about leaving with Steve.

“You can.” Steve encouraged the blonde gently, nibbling on his lower lip and holding out his hand hesitantly to urge Billy on. “Come on, take my hand. We’ll go through together.” The gate was open now, they were quickly running out of time. Steve hoped that Dwight wasn’t crouching somewhere watching this go down, because if it didn’t work he’d know that he’d been chatting with their killer, and would tell the rest of the survivors and then what? 

Billy paused to glance around at their surroundings, seemingly having the same worry as Steve for a moment, before he reluctantly took a few steps forward, stretching his arm out to carefully take Steve’s hand. Steve gave him an encouraging smile, enjoying the warmth of Billy’s hand in his own, and made a gesture with a nod of his head to tell Billy to follow him. “We’re almost out of time. C’mon.” Steve whispered, giving Billy’s hand a gentle pull to drag him forward, staring into the blonde’s eyes for a few moments before they both walked ahead, each chime of the gong signalling how much time they had left urging them to move faster. They stepped through the gate together and Steve felt his heart swell at the notion that this might actually be working, they were both running to the end now with giddy smiles on their faces, taking that first step through the exit, into the momentary darkness and-

And Steve woke up back at the campfire alone. No sign of Billy anywhere, even when he looked around the edge of the treeline.

_ Fuck.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAGHHHHH THE NEW DBD UPDATE !!!! STEVE'S S1 OUTFIT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCREAMIGN
> 
> yES, yes i WILL be putting steve in his new outfit soon


	6. six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two new faces appear, and Billy and Steve are caught sharing a tender moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy valentine's day!!! here is a lil bit of fluff << 33 (just a lil bit)

Apparently, Steve’s punishment for trying to help Billy came in three parts.

First, he didn’t have another trial with the boy for what felt like weeks. Perhaps it was longer. Steve was starting to lose his grip on time in this place.

Secondly, he was given some new clothes by the Entity. That had excited him at first, but when he figured out what his new clothes were… He felt like he might vomit. In the small parcel with his name on the tag left by one of the logs, was his striped polo shirt and khaki pants from when he and Nancy had first got together. And just to rub salt in the wound, Nancy was also given a similar gift, of her clothes from the same day.

Jonathan wasn’t too pleased with that.

Third, two new survivors were welcomed into their little group.

Robin Buckley and Heather Holloway.

It was like the Entity had read his thoughts about being glad that none of his friends were in this place with him, and just to spite him, had taken his very best friend in the world (besides Dustin, of course) and sent her into the game. That  _ did  _ make Steve vomit, the brunet having to run off into the woods and bring up the contents of his stomach behind a bush. Robin had scoffed at that.

_ “What a warm welcome,” _ She had mumbled with a roll of her eyes once Steve returned to the campfire.

God, Steve had missed her. But he desperately wished she wasn’t there with him. 

Steve had dedicated his time over the next few trials to show Robin and Heather the ropes whenever they were all in the same group, teaching them which wires to connect on the generators, how to send the hooks falling down, and how best to avoid those that were determined to kill them. It took Heather a while to get used to her new life, but unsurprisingly Robin seemed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. 

And Steve had to pretend that he didn’t catch them regularly cuddling up together at night, strolling around through the woods with their fingers intertwined, or staring at each other like they held the world in their eyes, after a particularly frightening death threat from Robin.

Which was funny, because Steve didn’t really think he was afraid of death anymore. 

But something about Robin threatening to impale him on a rather sharp tree branch a few feet away after strangling him until near unconsciousness still scared him. Which he supposed was a good thing. At least he wasn’t turning numb to any sort of fear in this place. Like the others had seemed to. Not Robin and Heather yet, but Nancy and Jonathan barely held any emotion in their eyes anymore whenever they were summoned to a trial. Steve wished he could be like them. But he just felt too much. That had always been an issue for him. Nancy had even told him herself. 

Steve sighed through his nose as he felt the familiar magnetic pull summoning him for a new trial. He’d given up on hoping that he’d see Billy again, by this point. Had convinced himself that the Entity really had done something to hurt him, and all because of Steve. It made him feel terrible. And he couldn’t even ask any of the others if they’d seen him, because of one tiny little detail; he hadn’t quite told Heather and Robin that Billy was a killer yet. None of the others had, either. They decided that if Billy really wasn’t going to show up again, there would be no point upsetting Heather by telling her about him. 

Steve didn’t think it was fair that Billy came into these trials half-flayed, half- himself and Heather was normal. But he didn’t dare say that out loud. There was no point in starting a conflict within the group. Not when they were all stuck here with each other for God knows how long.

Heather and Robin were both in this trial with him, and luckily enough they all started off at the same spot within the Gideon Meat Plant. Steve hated it whenever they ended up indoors. It was easier to separate the group, and seemingly impossible to escape from the killer when he couldn’t just burst into a sprint out in the open and had to keep looping them in such a confined space. 

“Alright, guys, let’s stay together…” Steve whispered, gesturing for the girls to follow him through the corridors, each of them staying low and walking as quietly as they could, wincing whenever a particularly loud footfall landed against the floor, echoing through the halls. Steve hated this part; wandering around and wondering in tense anticipation who would be the one to kill them this time. Robin and Heather seemed just as nervous as him, which offered him some comfort, in an odd way.

The trio fixed their first generator with no issues, and moved onto the next. Steve was feeling pretty confident for this trial, but that didn’t last very long. It usually didn’t. Heather made one little mistake while trying to connect some wires, and that sent a loud blast echoing through the hallways from the generator, making all three of the teenagers cringe as they tried to fix the machine up as quickly as possible before the stomping of heavy boots now coming down the hallway could get any closer to them.

And when Steve peeked up over the top of the generator to get a look at their killer, he damn near made a mistake himself.

_ Finally... _

But when Steve remembered this was the first time the girls were seeing Billy in one of these trials, he immediately felt sympathetic. For both Billy, who now had to live with killing his best friend over and over, and for Heather who would be met with the inevitable moment of disappointment of finding out her friend wasn't one of them. And that moment seemed to be now.

“Hey, is that—” Heather asked with an incredulous look in her eyes as she stood from her hiding spot, striding right up to Billy with a huge grin spreading across her face. Steve winced sympathetically as she called out his name and reached over with her arms spread out wide, undoubtedly trying to hug him. As one would when seeing a friend that they believed to be dead, right there, in the flesh. But instead of receiving the tight embrace she was seeking out, the poor girl was immediately ripped from his arms, his blade running right through her sternum and drawing out a pained shriek from her as he flung her over his shoulder. “What the  _ fuck  _ Billy!?” 

Steve sighed as he watched Heather struggle on the hook she had been impaled on a couple of feet away from the generator, all thanks to Billy. The sight just made him even more conflicted about his strange new civilness with Billy, because seeing Heather suffer when Steve didn’t even really have to worry about that anymore made his heart twist with guilt, especially once he saw the hurt in Robin’s eyes as she went back to fixing the generator in front of them. 

But Billy seemed determined to add Robin onto the next spot on his kill list, so the pair ended up having to split up rather quickly as the blonde came stalking towards him with something close to pure hatred darkening those crystal blue eyes. Steve hated seeing him like that. He just wanted his Billy to hurry up and come back.

Well, not  _ his  _ Billy, of course. 

But still.

Robin split off rather quickly and bolted down one corridor while Steve chose the other, mentally cursing when he realised that the thumping of boots against the stone floor was coming after him. Although he supposed it was better him than Robin, right?

Steve didn’t bother glancing over his shoulder as he ran ahead of Billy, not trusting himself to get near him when he was in the mindset that meant he couldn’t be reasoned with. He knew from experience by now he had to wait a minute for him to settle down. Or perhaps the Entity’s punishment for Billy came in the form of him never being able to control his own body again, simply being trapped and having to watch while the Mind Flayer controlled all of his actions and killed the people he was supposed to love the most. Like Heather.

Steve yelped loudly in surprise when the back of the collar of his new shirt was grabbed and he was yanked back, sending him stumbling over his own feet and right into Billy’s arms. He froze for a second, half expecting the blonde to stab him on the spot, but Billy only helped Steve back up onto his feet and sent a bashful smile his way. Steve allowed himself to let out a relieved exhale when he saw that he was back to normal, for now. “Hey… It’s been a while, huh?” Billy hummed.

“Yeah…” Steve mumbled with a nod, bringing his hand up to rub at his neck where it was sore from his own polo shirt collar choking him with Billy’s attention grabbing gesture. “It has…” It would be too far to say that Steve had  _ missed  _ Billy, but… It had been weird not seeing him around. He was kind of glad he was here now. 

“You tried to help me last time.” Billy stated simply. “Thank you for that, even if it didn’t work, I’m still grateful that you thought of me enough to try.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Steve whispered breathlessly and gave a small nod. The brunet froze up, his eyes widening as Billy took a step closer, landing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze as he reached over and planted a soft kiss onto Steve’s cheek. He was at a loss for words, considering that was the last thing he had been expecting from the blonde, and he simply brought a hand up to brush his fingers over his own cheek and watched while Billy stepped back again. “Uh- I- Thank you? I mean, you’re welcome. I think.” Steve stammered out, feeling his cheeks flush with heat at the way Billy smirked at his obvious fluster.

Well, at least he seemed to be getting back to his old self again. 

“You’re the only person that’s been nice to me here…” Billy murmured softly, reaching his hand out to brush back some of Steve’s chestnut hair that had fallen into his eyes. Steve would have argued that Heather had tried to be nice to him, but he knew Billy wasn’t in his right mind when he did that. It wasn’t really Billy. He couldn’t help it. He would never have wanted to hurt his best friend like that.

God, why was Steve making so many excuses for this boy? 

Steve nibbled on his lower lip as he subtly tilted his head to lean into the warm hand brushing through his hair, letting out a soft sigh through his nose as he allowed himself to enjoy the first human contact he’d experienced in… He had lost track of how long. Even if it was from Billy Hargrove, that… That didn’t mean as much to Steve as it once would have. Once, he would have shrunk away from the touch, but now he found himself holding onto Billy’s wrist gently to make sure that he didn’t move his hand away before Steve was done nuzzling into his palm.

And perhaps if Steve had remembered where he was, who he was doing this with, he might have made the encounter much shorter, out of fear of getting caught.

But Steve became a whole other kind of stupid when he was letting his heart take control of his actions and make his mind all fuzzy, so he didn’t think of that. At least, not until it was too late, and he heard the voice coming from the other end of the corridor they were stupidly standing in the middle of. 

_ “Steve?”  _

Oh fuck. Oh no, oh no no no no no! 

Steve whipped around on his heel to stare wide-eyed over at Robin, who was watching him with a similar expression on her own face. Which practically confirmed that she had just seen Billy Hargrove, the boy who had just killed her ‘friend’ right in front of her, leaning over and kissing Steve’s cheek like they had been best friends all their lives, and Steve nudging his face into the blonde’s palm like a content cat who hadn’t been pet in years. “Robin, it’s not-” 

But there was no time for him to even  _ try  _ to explain what was going on - not that he even really knew himself - because Robin was running off in the other direction before he could finish his sentence. 

“I-I’m sorry, Billy…! I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” Steve whispered, giving Billy’s wrist one last little squeeze before he allowed him to drop his arm and went running off after his best friend. Curse her for being so much faster than him.

Robin even dropped a pallet right in his path to block him, as if she was running for her life from one of the killers and not from her  _ best friend.  _ And yeah, that really hurt. More than just the burning pain in his shin when he whacked it against the wood of the pallet. It sent a clenching sensation right through his heart as he vaulted over the pallet and kept running after her. Eventually, Robin started to get tired after running circles around the map, and slowed to a stop, to Steve’s relief.

Both of the teenagers were heaving in pants of breath by now as Steve slowly, carefully approached her. Like a threatening animal that might bite his hand off if he got too close. “Robin… I can explain…”

He couldn’t, really. He couldn’t even figure out a reason in his own mind why he would be so close to Billy Hargrove. The main reason that painted itself in big capital letters right across his mind was that he was lonely, it screamed at him to stop being so stupid but at the same time shoved him closer to the deadly blonde. It was too confusing, and Steve couldn’t think of any way to stop it.

“He just killed Heather.” Robin whispered, snatching her arm away from where Steve had tried to reach his hand out and give her shoulder a squeeze. “You _watched_ him kill her… How could you-? Are you two like, a thing?”

“No.. No we’re not, we just… Do each other favours sometimes….” Steve mumbled with a shrug, feeling his face heat up at how fucking _stupid_ that sounded when he said it out loud.

And as if his face wasn't already red enough, Robin had to completely misinterpret his words and shudder, “Gross, Steve.”

“I didn’t mean like that!” Steve groaned, lifting his face to bury it in his hands and only peeking through the spaces in his fingers when Robin slid down the nearest wall.

“Whatever.” She muttered, drawing her knees up to her chest.

"Robin.... I know you're probably weirded out, and honestly, I am too. But... Can you just promise me one thing? If I just ask you one little favour?" Steve asked quietly, settling himself down on the floor beside his friend and leaning into her side.

Robin frowned at the request, and turned her head to the side to glance over at Steve, making a point of shuffling over to get away from him. "You want a _favour_ from me? What is it??"

“Don’t tell the others.” 


	7. seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an emotional talk, Steve takes something Billy says to heart.

To Steve’s relief, Robin had managed to keep their little secret between them so far. 

But that didn’t mean she had let go of what she had witnessed.

The girl was straight up refusing to speak to him now, it seemed. Every time he looked over at her he was being met with a glare that made him shrink back into himself, mentally counting down the time until she decided that him keeping contact with Billy was unforgivable and decided to go telling the others exactly what she saw. 

Steve knew deep down that she really wouldn’t do that, that the girl was simply freaked out and didn't know what to think of the situation, but he had to mentally prepare him just in case it  _ did  _ happen. Just in case.

And just to make things worse, the brunet had started to worry after a few days that the Entity was keeping the boys from each other again, but the being apparently decided to quell his concerns as soon as possible, sending them into a trial with each other just a week after Robin found out that they shared a strange form of friendship between them.

Honestly, knowing he was about to see Billy again calmed Steve down considerably. 

Steve sighed happily when he spotted Billy waiting for him over by one of the buildings. No matter how he found himself feeling at the campfire, seeing Billy during the trials always cheered him up, in some weird way. Even though he knew it shouldn't. He gave a short wave and glanced around to make sure no one was watching before he jogged over to him with a grin spreading across his lips, making his cheeks hurt a little. “Hey.” He whispered, letting out a little  _ oof  _ when Billy suddenly grabbed him and wrapped him up in a bone-crushing hug. 

“Hey, Steve,” Billy returned with a smile, letting go of the boy and gesturing for him to follow him through the doorway and into the small shack he had been waiting for him outside of. Steve cringed slightly when he realised the basement was right below them, noticing the glowing red light seeping out from under the cracks in the floorboards. Now he was sort of paranoid Billy was just luring him in there to get a basement hook under his belt. “I see you’re back in your cute little sailor outfit,” Billy teased with a little smirk as he leaned against the wall, nodding down to the familiar blue outfit Steve was wearing. 

_ How embarrassing.  _

Steve played it off with a snort and a fond roll of his eyes, pulling himself up onto the rather unstable window ledge so that he could get comfortable, watching Billy carefully just so that he could take the opportunity to vault out of the window and run off if he did happen to turn on him. “Yeah, well, Jonathan was getting pretty pissed that Nancy and I had matching outfits. Wasn’t too fun matching with her anyway, brought back… A lot of bad memories…” 

Billy frowned at that, crossing his arms across his chest as he asked in a curious, but still harmless and soft voice, “Like what?” 

Steve sighed, nibbling on his lower lip as he allowed his gaze to flicker over Billy’s face for a moment to examine him. He seemed genuinely curious, didn’t look like he had any intentions of using this information against Steve in some way later or using it to make fun of him or anything like that. So Steve drummed his fingertips nervously against the rough wood of the window ledge, took a deep inhale of air and murmured, “I always kind of knew she had feelings for Jonathan. Guess it was stupid of me to stay with her and think I could change that, but what hurt even more than that was the night she broke up with me, at that party just after you arrived, she spent the night with  _ him.  _ Then came to me in the middle of our basketball game the next day and acted like I was crazy when I recounted everything to her.” 

Steve kept recalling the points in the relationship where he and Nancy had went wrong, the parts where he knew her heart lay somewhere else, and the worst heartbreak he’d ever experienced in his life. Billy listened intently the whole time as Steve vented, making him feel listened to, really listened to for the first time in years. Billy would get a little crinkle between his brows when he frowned in sympathy for everything Steve was saying, the hints of a little pout on his lower lip at the saddest parts almost cheering up completely. After he was finally done getting everything off his chest, Steve and Billy sat in silence for a long moment, before Billy pushed himself off of the wall and stepped towards Steve until they were inches away, making Steve feel dizzy and breathless all at once in a way that he found absolutely ridiculous. 

“I’m sorry Steve, you didn’t deserve any of that,” Billy mumbled softly, lifting a hand to brush his fingertips against Steve’s cheekbone in a gentle swoop. Steve knew for a fact that his cheeks were flushing pink from the simple gesture, but this was nothing new around Billy Hargrove, so he just tried his best to ignore it. “You deserve someone that’ll treat you right, like you deserve. Someone who actually cares about you, that’ll look after you.” 

Steve’s breath hitched slightly at the kind words, and once again found himself nudging his head into the sheer warmth of Billy Hargrove’s hand like it was completely natural, allowing his eyes to flutter shut as he relaxed a little, despite his heart hammering against his ribcage and his lungs suddenly being winded of any air. The contact ended far too quickly for his liking; just when Steve moved to rest his hand over Billy’s wrist, the blonde had pulled his hand away and taken a step back, making Steve sigh softly in disappointment as he watched him pull out his blade, twirling the knife through his fingers. His thick brows furrowed into a frown for a moment before he glanced up at Steve and tilted his head slightly to the side. 

“Is Robin gonna tell anyone that we’re friends?” Billy curiously asked, dragging the tip of his knife along the cracks in the brickwork of the wall. Steve watched the movements of the blade like a hawk. “Can’t imagine that would go down too well with the others.” 

_ Friends. _

Steve didn’t like the burst of disappointment that ran through his body at that one harmless little word. 

There was no reason for him to feel that way at all, of course he and Billy were only friends- in fact, Steve wasn’t even sure he would call them that. If they ever got back to their own world, they probably wouldn’t acknowledge each other ever again. Billy was probably just feeling lonely since none of the other killers were welcoming him, and projecting his loneliness onto Steve. Forcing them together. And maybe it didn’t help that Steve was feeling lonely, too. Their shared trauma had made them ‘friends’.

Steve had no right to be upset at the wording of Billy’s question. 

It didn’t help that they had just shared such a gentle moment, that Billy had touched him so tenderly, allowed himself to get so close before seemingly mentally berating himself for allowing himself to get close in the first place. 

It was too confusing; so many emotions were swirling around in Steve’s head all at once that he could hardly pick a single one out, making his head throb painfully as he tried to make sense of even one little feeling shooting through him. It was like every time Billy stepped close to him or spoke to him in that soft voice, he went numb in the best way possible, in a way he had only experienced once before. And that scared him. 

So his body screamed at him to put up walls, protect himself. 

“Well, could you blame them? You  _ have  _ killed them all multiple times, and you _did_ kill Robin's friend right in front of her.” Steve pointed out in a mutter, pushing himself off of the window ledge and landing with his feet buried in the tall, dead grass. He had to avert his gaze after he saw the hurt flash through Billy’s ocean eyes. 

Because, admittedly, the sight made Steve’s chest clench painfully. 

Steve was being petulant, he was fully aware of that. And it wasn’t Billy’s fault, he was also aware of _that_. But something about the way his heart hammered in his chest whenever Billy was around annoyed him. The way he craved every little friendly touch the blonde might offer him made him grit his teeth and clench his jaw in frustration. But he refused to allow himself to look into these feelings any further, because quite honestly, he was afraid of what he might find within himself. And Billy had no way of knowing that, so of course he called them friends. 

But Steve was only now seeming to realise that he’d let himself get far too close to this boy. Too comfortable with an actual  _ killer _ . How it had taken him this long, he had no idea. But he never claimed to be the brightest of people. 

It had to end now.

Steve could see Billy clenching and unclenching his fists out of the corner of his eye as he turned away from him completely, trying to decide whether he should tell him that they shouldn't be friends anymore or if he should just ghost him before they both got too attached to each other, but he didn't imagine either would go down too well with Billy. 

Steve was just glad that the buzzing alarms indicating that the exits were being opened could be heard from where they were standing, because it gave him an excuse to spin on his heel and walk off in the direction of one of the gates, trying to ignore the fact that when he risked a glance over his shoulder at Billy he was just standing there watching him leave like a kicked puppy. Shit, it made him feel bad. Reminded him that there was absolutely no reason to be mad at the blonde for what he said, but it was too late to go back over now. He’d already hurt him, and he had to get out of there before Billy could catch up to him.

So, without looking back again, Steve broke off into a run and headed towards the closest exit, catching up with Nancy and Dwight right in time for them to all leave together, like nothing had even happened, with Nancy talking about how weird it was that she hadn’t seen the killer for the whole trial. 

Fuck, this was getting risky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk how i feel abt this chapter,,,,,,,,, might go through and edit it later idk


	8. eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve narrowly escapes death by using Billy's biggest show of affection yet to his advantage.

Steve did his very best to avoid Billy after that conversation.

He hated seeing the hurt register on Billy’s face every time he realised that Steve wouldn’t be coming near him in that trial, but it was necessary if Steve had any hope of keeping himself safe from any possible heartbreak. Because Billy was definitely the kind of guy who would break his heart. And yes, he realised that he overreacted about a situation as simple and harmless as Billy calling him his friend, but it just made sense to him that he should avoid him after that. Because clearly they had two very different ideas about what their strange relationship meant, and Steve didn’t want to push it any further after that. Distancing himself from Billy seemed easier than forcing the other into situations he didn’t want to be in regarding his feelings towards Steve- not that he would even  _ have  _ any for him in the first place. 

The others seemed to notice that something was wrong with him. When they asked, gathered around the campfire with concern splashed across all of their faces, Steve simply laughed it off and chalked it up to the misery of being in a place like this, where he was forced to die and watch his friends get slaughtered day in and day out. The others seemed to understand that, nodding and murmuring in agreement before they let it go. Or, most of them did, anyway. 

The little glances sent in his direction from Robin didn’t go unnoticed. 

It had been a while since the last time Steve had been placed into a trial with Billy, although the others had been forced into some, and judging from their reports when they returned to the campfire, Billy had become completely merciless since Steve had decided to stop talking to him. Of course, the others didn’t know just how sweet the killer could be, so to them he was always ruthless, but to Steve… To Steve he was something else. A guy who didn’t want to be where he was, just as much as Steve and his friends didn’t want to be where they were. He couldn’t help his situation any more than they could.

But this meant that when Steve was summoned into a trial one misty morning, and heard the telltale little spike of electro music at the start of the trial that indicated he would be playing against Billy, he had to swallow down the lump in his throat and remind himself that he wouldn’t be himself now. Not until Steve could talk to him anyway- because he wanted to at least apologise and explain to Billy why he had been avoiding him. Truthfully, it was tearing Steve apart just as much as it seemed to have been hurting Billy every time he got a glimpse at his face. 

Steve managed to get about halfway through fixing the closest generator before he heard the thumping of boots coming towards him from somewhere to his right, and let a little sigh slip past his slightly parted lips before he connected a couple more wires and stood up straight from where he had been crouching. Squinting at the wires and cogs. He really wished he could get a pair of glasses in this place, since borrowing Dwight's wasn’t exactly an option if they were both in a trial at the same time. Which they usually were.

Steve offered up a small smile when he saw Billy standing a little bit ahead of him, sniffing the air like a dog for a moment before he seemed to figure out where Steve was standing and whip around to face him with the most deadly look he’d ever seen in the blonde’s eyes. It was terrifying, really, and Steve found himself trembling a little as he tried to work up the courage to try and talk Billy back to a calmer state, that way they could actually have a conversation about what was going on between them. But Steve barely got a chance to open his mouth to greet the blonde with a mumbled hello before Billy was releasing a guttural snarl, gripping his knife tightly in his fist and leaning forward slightly as he started moving in Steve’s direction.

“Billy-!” Steve yelped loudly when Billy came charging towards him looking absolutely  _ enraged _ , knife gripped tightly in one hand as he shoved Steve up against the closest wall of the building with the other. The force of the action had the brunet’s head slamming back against the brick, making him cry out in pain as he heaved in panicked breaths and stared at the blonde with wide, terrified eyes. Steve barely blinked to try and get rid of the tears that were brewing in his eyes, and yet when he opened them again he realised that Billy was pressing his knife against his throat, the edge of the blade sending a bite of pain through him as it just met the skin at the front of his neck. “Billy, stop-” Steve whispered, bringing his hand up to circle his fingers around Billy’s wrist and giving it a squeeze as he lifted his gaze to meet those bloodshot blue eyes. “Billy, it’s me... “ Steve vented a soft sigh when the pink in the sclera of his eyes started to fade back to white, relaxing only a little, since there was still a blade against his throat, after all.

“Steve…” Billy whispered as he started to settle down, his crystal blue eyes flickering between Steve’s own eyes and his lips, as if he couldn’t decide which to take in first. And he started leaning in a bit closer, making Steve give a confused frown as he watched him, wondering what on Earth he was doing. And when Billy drew in a deep breath and allowed his eyes to flutter shut, Steve didn’t have much time to react, to pretend that this wasn’t something he had wanted for weeks. Billy didn’t even give him a chance to decline before he was pressing closer, although it was obvious to Steve that he  _ wouldn’t  _ have declined even if he had been given the chance. 

Steve let out a startled squeak when Billy’s lips crashed against his own, capturing them in a heavy kiss that had Steve’s knees trembling within seconds, threatening to give out completely and send him tumbling to the ground in the most embarrassing way possible. So he was just glad that Billy was keeping him pressed to the wall, really, even if it was in a position that meant one wrong move would have him bleeding out thanks to the knife against his jugular. 

As much as Steve desperately wanted to kiss Billy back, as much as he  _ craved it _ , he also knew that this was a dangerous game. This was more than just a simple cheek kiss or gentle caresses here and there. And they’d already been caught doing that, so what would be the result of someone finding them  _ actually kissing _ pressed up against a wall. With a knife to Steve’s throat, no less. This whole situation was so  _ wrong _ . Steve couldn’t even remember how they got here in the first place, and it was making the panic rise in his chest all over again, clenching painfully at his heart as it hammered against his ribcage. He was so conflicted, but he knew deep down that he had to do  _ something _ in order to get out of this situation. 

Steve knew he just had to be fast.

It would only take a split second for Billy to be taken over by the Mind Flayer again, to turn back into a merciless killing machine, he knew that by now. 

But as pressing as this matter was, Steve decided to indulge himself for just a moment, knowing that he’d likely never get a chance like this again and that he should at least let himself enjoy it for just a second or two. Plus, he needed a distraction, one that would keep Billy occupied until he could get away from him. Or at least, that was what Steve told himself. 

Steve slowly slid one hand up into Billy’s curls, tugging at them gently and humming softly when the gesture elicited a sweet little sound from between Billy’s lips as he carefully used his tongue to part them. It was a shame he couldn’t allow himself to get _entirely_ lost in the kiss, as he was enjoying the little zaps of electricity that were shooting through his veins as their tongues brushed tentatively together, as their lips moulded with each other perfectly. That should be quite worrying, Steve decided. He’d never felt so  _ right  _ kissing anyone else before, had never enjoyed it this much. And that was saying something. But he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted, he had to keep focused so he could get out of this situation as quickly as possible.

And just when Billy seemed to be getting into the kiss, if the little noises and sighs he was releasing were anything to judge by, Steve finally took his chance to escape. In one swift movement, Steve lifted his knee to slam it directly into Billy’s crotch, waiting for him to rip back from the kiss and double over from the pain before he was bolting off, as far from the building as he could possibly get and crouching down to attempt to himself in the patches of tall grass beside a different generator. He held his breath and watched as Billy stormed out of the building, but the most confusing part was that he didn’t appear to be flayed again, there was no sign of black veins or bloodshot eyes. He just looked like himself. And that sadness that had taken over his features so many times because of Steve over the past few weeks was once again settled onto his handsome face. It made Steve feel sort of guilty, if only for a moment. 

But Steve knew he had to brush off that feeling that was twisting at his chest, and finish the game quickly to allow him to get as far away from Billy as possible, to get back to the campfire where he would be safe. 

The trial seemed…  _ too easy _ , after Steve managed to get away from Billy. Not a single scream echoed throughout the map, and even as Steve crept around helping his teammates to fix the generators, Billy wasn’t found at a single one. Usually he would stick around the generators to surprise his victims and grab them when they weren’t expecting it, so Steve held his guard up the whole time, but no one was ever cut down, never mind put on a hook and sacrificed. It was strange. It was like Billy had just skulked off to a corner somewhere and decided not to take part in this trial. Steve didn’t know if that was even allowed, so he just hoped the Entity didn’t give the killer  _ too  _ hard of a time for it. 

Steve even waited around by the gate for a few minutes after it was opened, worrying his lower lip between his teeth as he glanced around at his surroundings with a curious frown. And still no sign of Billy. Steve was kind of starting to worry about the blonde now, wondering to himself just how much he had hurt him if he had just decided to keep to himself for the rest of the trial. He’d seemed so excited when Steve started to kiss him back, and he just ruined it for him. Steve had no idea how he was going to strike up that conversation he'd been intending earlier now, now that he'd taken advantage of Billy's trust like that and broken it in half by kneeing him right in the dick while they were sharing their first- and probably last- kiss. Well, there was nothing he could really do about it now, since Billy didn’t seem to be turning up any time soon and the ground was starting to split up into glowing orange cracks and crevices, signalling that if Steve didn’t get out soon he would end up in the middle of the trial collapsing, and that wouldn’t be great. So with one final look around and a vented sigh, Steve turned back on his heel and jogged past the exit gate to safety, completely unaware of the blonde watching him dolefully from a few feet away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this update took so long !!! it was hard to get myself to sit down and write this chapter for a while dfhkshk


End file.
